The Roman orator, Cicero, had a deep appreciation for gardens and books; so much so that he once wrote to a friend, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” The literal translation of Cicero’s words from Latin into English is slightly different — “a garden in a library” rather than “a garden and a library” — but the meaning is the same: gardens and libraries are respites for the soul.
I try to help readers with the library part by offering weekly reviews and lists of reading ideas available through the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries collection. (By the way, if you don’t have a library card, it’s very easy to get one. Check out www.fvrl.org/library-cards for all the details.) Now I’m going to try to help out with the garden part … by recommending gardening books, of course!
The list below is just the tip of the iceberg lettuce, so to speak, of what you can find in the gardening/landscaping section of the library. For this column, I’ve included titles about no-waste and organic gardening; guides for beginners, pros and kids; and garden ideas for flowers, vegetables and butterflies. Just remember that the library also has books about annuals, perennials, bulbs, succulents, herbs, trees, shrubs; container, square-foot, hydroponic, rock gardening — well, you get the picture.
I suggest that if you’re the kind of gardener who likes to browse the aisles at a nursery, you might also be a reader who likes to browse the shelves at your local library. So, head to call number 635 for gardening and 712 for landscaping, and browse to your artichoke heart’s content.
